Mobile Communications Device having Moveable Housings

ABSTRACT

Mobile communications devices are described. In an implementation, a mobile communications device includes a first housing that is approximately square and that includes a display device. The mobile communications device also includes a second housing that is approximately square, includes a keyboard and is rotatable with respect to the first housing at respective corners of the first and second housing. The second housing is rotatable with respect to the first housing between a first configuration in which the first housing substantially covers the second housing such that the keyboard is covered and a second configuration in which the keyboard is exposed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Patent Application No. 60/992,608, filed Dec. 5, 2007 and titled “Devices, Features and Systems for Mobile Communications”, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Mobile communications devices (e.g., wireless phones) have become an integral part of everyday life. For example, a user traditionally used mobile communications devices to place and receive telephone calls when the user was away from a fixed communication device, e.g., a house or office telephone. In some instances, the mobile communications device became the primary device via which the user communicated with other users as the user became accustomed to the convenience and functionality of the device.

Further, the communication techniques that may be employed using a mobile communications device have increased. For example, users were traditionally limited to telephone calls between mobile communications devices. Advances were then made to provide a variety of other communication techniques, e.g., text messaging and email. However, inclusion of these additional communication techniques on mobile communications devices having traditional form factors may cause these devices to become unwieldy and less suitable for mobile applications.

SUMMARY

Mobile communications devices are described. In an implementation, a mobile communications device includes a first housing that is approximately square and that includes a display device. The mobile communications device also includes a second housing that is approximately square, includes a keyboard and is rotatable with respect to the first housing at respective corners of the first and second housing. The second housing is rotatable with respect to the first housing between a first configuration in which the first housing substantially covers the second housing such that the keyboard is covered and a second configuration in which the keyboard is exposed.

In an implementation, a mobile communications device includes a first housing and a second housing. The second housing includes a keyboard and is movable with respect to the first housing between a first configuration to expose the keyboard and a second configuration that covers the keyboard. The second housing includes a camera disposed on an opposing side of the second housing from the keyboard and an input device that is manipulable by a user in the first and second configurations to place the camera in an operational mode.

In an implementation, a mobile communications device includes first and second housings that are movable with respect to each other in a plurality of configurations. The first and second housings are movable such that an orientation of a display device on the first housing rotates with respect to the second housing and an orientation of text displayed on a display device of the first housing with respect to the second housing in at least two of the configurations matches.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different instances in the description and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example implementation of an example mobile communications device in accordance with one or more embodiments of devices, features, and systems for mobile communications.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a system in an example implementation showing in which a mobile communications device of FIG. 1 keeps text displayed on a first housing orientated with respect to a second housing when the first and second housings are moved in relation to each other.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example implementation showing the mobile communications device of FIGS. 1 and 2 in a side view.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example implementation showing the mobile communications device of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 as having a QWERTY keyboard.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary implementation of the mobile communications device of FIGS. 1-4 in which camera functionality is included.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of various components of an example device that can be implemented in various embodiments as any type of a mobile communication device to implement embodiments of devices, features, and systems for mobile communications.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

Users continually desire increased functionality from mobile communications devices, e.g., wireless phones, mobile messaging devices, calendaring devices, and so on. For example, users may maintain a calendar, a list of contacts, send and receive text messages, access the Internet, send and receive email, take pictures and so on. However, inclusion of this increased functionality in traditional mobile communications devices may make these devices more cumbersome and therefore less suitable to mobile applications as traditionally configured.

Mobile communications devices having movable housings are described. In one or more implementations, a square design language is employed to configure a mobile communications device. For example, the mobile communications device may have two housings that are approximately square in shape and that are rotatable (e.g., via a pivot), one to another. In this example, the first and/or second housings may be rotated to form a first configuration that is approximately square and a second configuration that is approximately rectangular. In the first configuration, a first housing may be used to cover a keyboard that is part of the second housing. The keyboard disposed on the second housing may be exposed in a second configuration, which is achieved by rotating the first and/or second housings from the first configuration. In this way, “open” and “closed” configurations may be provided using the pivot. A variety of different keyboards may be employed, e.g., a twelve-key traditional phone numeric pad, a full QWERTY keyboard, and so on. Further discussion of rotation of the first and second housings may be found in relation to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In one or more implementations, a mobile communications device includes first and second housings that are movable with respect to each other to form a plurality of configurations. Continuing with the previous example, the first housing may be rotated with respect to the second housing such that orientation of a display device on the first housing rotates with respect to the second housing. In this implementation, however, orientation of text displayed on a display device of the first housing remains orientated with respect to the second housing in at least two of the configurations that were achieved by rotating the first and second housings with respect to each other. For instance, orientation of the text on the first housing with respect to the second housing may match in an open and closed position of the mobile communications device formed by rotating the first and second housings.

For instance, the first housing may be rotated ninety degrees with respect to the second housing. Consequently, a display device on the first housing may also be rotated ninety degrees with respect to the second housing. To keep text displayed on the display device orientated with respect to the second housing (e.g., and a keyboard disposed on the second housing), the display of the text may also be rotated ninety degrees. In this way, the display of text and a keyboard remain orientated, one to another. Further discussion of orientation of a display of data on a display device may also be found in relation to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In one or more implementations, a mobile communications device includes first and second housings which are movable with respect to each other to assume first and second configurations. The second housing includes a keyboard and a camera disposed on an opposing side of the second housing from the keyboard. The second housing also includes an input device that is manipulable by a user in the first and second configurations to place the camera in an operational mode. For example the first configuration may use the first housing to cover the keyboard of the second housing. The second configuration may involve rotation of the first and second housings, one to another, from the first configuration such that the keyboard of the second housing is exposed. Regardless of whether the mobile communications device is in the first or second configuration, the input device may be used to place the camera in an operational mode, e.g., ready to capture an image. Further discussion of the camera and the input device of the mobile communications device may be found in relation to FIG. 5.

In the following discussion, a variety of example implementations of a mobile communications device are shown. Additionally, a variety of different functionality that may be employed by the mobile communications device is described for each example, which may be implemented in that example as well as in other described examples. Accordingly, example implementations are illustrated of a few of a variety of contemplated implementations. Further, although a mobile communications device having one or more modules that are configured to provide telephonic functionality are described, a variety of other mobile communications devices are also contemplated, such as dedicated messaging devices.

Example Implementations

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example implementation 100 of a mobile communications device 102 in accordance with one or more embodiments of devices, features, and systems for mobile communications. The mobile communications device 102 is illustrated as assuming a plurality of configurations, examples of which include a first configuration 104, a second configuration 106 and a third configuration 108.

The mobile communications device 102 is further illustrated as including a first housing 110 and a second housing 112 that are connected via a pivot 114 such that the first and second housing may rotate, one to another. The first housing 110 includes a display device 116 (e.g., a touchscreen) that may be used to output a variety of data, such as a caller identification (ID), information related to text messages as illustrated, email, multimedia messages, Internet browsing, game play, music, video and so on. The second housing 112 is illustrated as including a keyboard 118 that may be used to provide inputs to the mobile communications device 102.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the first and second housings 104, 106 of the mobile communications device 102 are approximately square. For example, a plane defined by an outer surface of the display device 116 may be parallel to a plane of the first housing 104 that approximates a square, which may be the same as or different from the plane defined by the display device 116. In other words, the width and height of the plane taken from the first housing 110 that is parallel to the other surface of the display device 116 are approximately one-to-one, e.g., are equilateral rectilinear. Likewise, the second housing 112 may be considered approximately square along a plane that is parallel to and/or is the same as an outer surface of the keyboard 118 disposed within the second housing 112.

In the first configuration 104, the mobile communications device 102 is closed such that the first housing 110 covers the second housing 112. Consequently, the keyboard 118 disposed on the second housing 112 is covered and is not available to receive input from a user of the mobile communications device 102.

In the second configuration 106, the first housing 110 is rotated “away” from the second housing 112 using the pivot 114. Therefore, in the second configuration 106 at least a portion of the keyboard 118 disposed on the second housing 112 is exposed.

In the third configuration 108, the first housing 110 has been rotated ninety degrees with respect to the second housing 112. In this example configuration, at least a majority of the keys of the keyboard 118 is exposed such that the exposed keys are available to receive inputs from a user. Accordingly, this configuration may be considered an “open” configuration. Further, the third configuration 108 results in a substantially rectangular form factor of the mobile communications device 102 as contrasted with a substantially square form factor of the mobile communications device 102 in the first configuration 104. In an implementation, the planes of the first and second housings 110, 112 that are used to define the square form factor are parallel to each other, although other implementations are also contemplated.

In the illustrated implementation 100, the display device 116 remains viewable by a user in each configuration, examples of which are shown in the first configuration 104, the second configuration 106 and the third configuration 108. In the first configuration 104, example text “Text Message from Sara” is illustrated as being displayed on the display device 116. Additionally, the example text is illustrated as being orientated with respect to the second housing 112, which in the illustrated implementation 100 the example text and indications of functions of the keyboard 118 (e.g., numbers and/or letters) are aligned, generally.

In the second configuration 106, the example text is illustrated as following rotation of the display device 116 and the first housing 110. Consequently, the example text is not orientated with respect to the second housing 112 as was shown for the first configuration 104 of the mobile communications device 102. For instance, the orientation of the text in the second configuration 106 is not aligned with the keyboard 118.

In the third configuration 108, the example text is again illustrated as orientated with respect to the second housing 112 as was previously shown and described in relation to the first configuration 104. For instance, example text “Text Message from Sara” displayed on the display device 116 is approximately aligned with the keyboard 118, e.g., communications of text for respective keys of the keyboard 118. Thus, although the orientation of the display device 116 is rotated ninety degrees with respect to the orientation of the second housing 112, the orientation of the example text with respect to the second housing 112 remains as it was for the first configuration 104 by also rotating a display of example text of the display device 116 by ninety degrees. Thus, in this manner a user of the mobile communications device 102 is provided with a consistent and intuitive approach to interaction with the mobile communications device in a plurality of configurations, e.g., the first and third configurations 104, 108. Although orientation of text on a display device has been described in relation to FIG. 1 in two configurations, a variety of other implementations are also contemplated, further discussion of which may be found in relation to the following figure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment 200 in which the mobile communications device 102 keeps text displayed on a first housing 110 orientated with respect to a second housing 112 when the first and second housings 110, 112 are moved in relation to each other. A plurality of configurations is illustrated in FIG. 2, examples of which include a first configuration 202, a second configuration 204, a third configuration 206 and a fourth configuration 208.

In each of the first, second, third and fourth configurations 202, 204, 206, 208, text displayed on the display device 116 remains orientated with respect to the second housing 112. As previously described in relation to FIG. 1, for instance, the text displayed on to display device 116 may be orientated with the second housing 112 such that keys of the keyboard 118 are aligned with the text and other images on the display device 116. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2 at least three configurations are shown in which the text (and other display images) is output as aligned with the second housing 112. It should be readily apparent that a wide variety of implementations are possible in which a wide range of orientations are contemplated which may be less than or greater than the number of orientations previously described. For example, the display on the display device may be continually reoriented in response to rotation of the first and second housings 110, 112 with respect to each other, e.g., the first and/or second housings 110, 112 may be physically moved.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example implementation 300 showing the mobile communications device 102 of FIGS. 1 and 2 in a side view. As illustrated, the first housing 110 substantially covers the second housing 112 such that the keyboard 118 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is covered and therefore protected from inadvertent input, contamination, and so on.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example implementation 400 showing the mobile communications device 102 of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 as having a QWERTY keyboard 402. As previously described in relation to FIG. 1, the keyboard may assume a variety of configurations, which was shown as a keyboard 118 having a twelve key numeric pad layout in FIGS. 1 and 2 and which is shown in FIG. 4 as a keyboard 402 having separate letters according to a QWERTY configuration. Thus, as is readily apparent from the figures the square form factor may be used to provide a wide range of input options in a compact manner which may make the mobile communications device 102 particularly well-suited for mobile applications and to support the wide range of communications techniques previously described.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary implementation 500 of the mobile communications device 102 of FIGS. 1-4 in which camera functionality is included. A “back view” of the second housing 112 of the mobile communications device 102 is shown that includes a camera 502 and a flash 504. In other words, a side of the second housing 112 that is opposite to a side of the second housing 112 that includes the keyboard 118 of FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 is depicted.

The second housing 112 also includes an input device that is manipulable by a user to place the camera 502 and/or the flash 504 in an operational mode, e.g., ready to capture one or more images. In the example depicted in FIG. 5, the input device 506 is configured as a dedicated hardware button that is movable between a first position 508 the places the camera 502 in the operational mode and a second position 510 in which the camera 502 is not operational. In the illustrated implementation, the input device is accessible by the user regardless of whether the mobile communications device is in an “open” configuration or a “closed” configuration, e.g., the first and third configurations 104, 108 of FIG. 1, respectively. A variety of other devices of the mobile communications device 102 may also be configured to include the functionality of the input device 506, such as a microphone to record speech.

FIG. 6 illustrates various components of an example device 600 that can be implemented in various embodiments as any type of a mobile communication device to implement embodiments of devices, features, and systems for mobile communications. For example, device 600 can be implemented as any of the mobile communication devices 102 described with reference to respective FIGS. 1-5. Device 600 can also be implemented to access a network-based service, such as a content service.

Device 600 includes input(s) 602 that may include Internet Protocol (IP) inputs. Device 600 further includes communication interface(s) 604 that can be implemented as any one or more of a wireless interface, any type of network interface, and as any other type of communication interface. A network interface provides a connection between device 600 and a communication network by which other electronic and computing devices can communicate data with device 600. A wireless interface enables device 600 to operate as a mobile communication device for wireless communications.

Device 600 also includes one or more processors 606 (e.g., any of microprocessors, controllers, and the like) which process various computer-executable instructions to control the operation of device 600 and to communicate with other electronic devices. Device 600 can be implemented with computer-readable media 608, such as one or more memory components, examples of which include random access memory (RAM) and non-volatile memory (e.g., any one or more of a read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.).

Computer-readable media 608 provides data storage to store content and data 610, as well as device applications and any other types of information and/or data related to operational aspects of device 600. For example, an operating system 612 can be maintained as a computer application with the computer-readable media 608 and executed on processor(s) 606. Device applications can also include a communication manager module 614 (which may be used to provide telephonic functionality) and a media manager 616.

Device 600 also includes an audio and/or video output 618 that provides audio and/or video data to an audio rendering and/or display system 620. The audio rendering and/or display system 620 can be implemented as integrated component(s) of the example device 600, and can include any components that process, display, and/or otherwise render audio, video, and image data. Device 600 can also be implemented to provide a user tactile feedback, such as vibrate and haptics.

Generally, the blocks may be representative of modules that are configured to provide represented functionality. Further, any of the functions described herein can be implemented using software, firmware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manual processing, or a combination of these implementations. The terms “module,” “functionality,” and “logic” as used herein generally represent software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. In the case of a software implementation, the module, functionality, or logic represents program code that performs specified tasks when executed on a processor (e.g., CPU or CPUs). The program code can be stored in one or more computer readable memory devices. The features of the techniques described above are platform-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented on a variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety of processors.

Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claimed invention. 

1. A mobile communications device comprising: a first housing that is approximately square and that includes a display device; and a second housing that is approximately square, includes a keyboard and is rotatable with respect to the first housing, at respective corners of the first and second housings, between: a first configuration in which the first housing substantially covers the second housing such that the keyboard is covered; and a second configuration in which the keyboard is exposed.
 2. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1, wherein: the first housing is substantially square along a plane that is parallel to an outer surface of the display device; and the second housing is substantially square along a plane that is parallel to an outer surface of the keyboard.
 3. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1, wherein the first configuration results in a substantially square form factor of the mobile communications device along a plane that is parallel to an outer surface of the keyboard and an outer surface of the display device.
 4. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1, wherein the second configuration results in a substantially rectangular form factor of the mobile communications device.
 5. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1, wherein the display device is viewable when in the first configuration and when in the second configuration.
 6. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1, wherein a plurality of keys of the keyboard is arranged accordingly to a QWERTY configuration.
 7. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the second housing is further configured with a camera and an input device that is manipulable by a user when in the first configuration to place the camera in an operational mode.
 8. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1, further comprising one or more modules that are configured to provide telephonic functionality.
 9. A mobile communications device as described in claim 8, wherein the telephonic functionality is configured to be accessed by a user when in the first configuration and when in the second configuration.
 10. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1, further comprising one or more modules that are configured to: display text on the display device; and change orientation of the display of the text with respect to the first housing when in the second configuration in comparison with the first configuration.
 11. A mobile communications device as described in claim 10, wherein the orientation of the display of the text is changed by rotating the display of the text approximately ninety degrees in relation to the display device.
 12. A mobile communications device comprising: a first housing; and a second housing that: includes a keyboard; is moveable with respect to the first housing between a first configuration that exposes the keyboard and a second configuration that covers the keyboard; includes a camera disposed on an opposing side of the second housing from the keyboard; and an input device that is manipulable by a user in the first and second configurations to place the camera in an operational mode.
 13. A mobile communications device as described in claim 12, further comprising one or more modules that provide telephonic functionality.
 14. A mobile communications device as described in claim 12, further comprising one or more modules that are configured to: display text on the display device; and change orientation of the display of the text with respect to the first housing when in the second configuration in comparison with the first configuration.
 15. A mobile communications device comprising first and second housings that are moveable with respect to each other in a plurality of configurations such that: an orientation of a display device on the first housing rotates with respect to the second housing; and an orientation of text displayed on the display device of the first housing with respect to the second housing matches in at least two said configurations.
 16. A mobile communications device as described in claim 15, wherein the orientation of text displayed on the display device of the first housing remains orientated with respect to the second housing for at least three said configurations.
 17. A mobile communications device as described in claim 15, wherein the orientation of text displayed on the display device of the first housing does not remain orientated with respect to the second housing for at least one said configuration.
 18. A mobile communications device as described in claim 15, further comprising one or more modules that provide telephonic functionality.
 19. A mobile communications device as described in claim 15, further comprising: a camera disposed on an opposing side of the second housing from the keyboard; and an input device that is manipulable by a user in first and second said configurations to place the camera in an operational mode.
 20. A mobile communications device as described in claim 15, wherein: the first housing is approximately square; and the second housing is approximately square and is rotatable with respect to the first housing, at respective corners of the first and second housings, to form the plurality of configurations. 